Broadbent a plus for monorail

Jeff Schweers

Monday, Nov. 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Nobody said building a monorail would be easy.

Just ask Clark County Aviation Director Bob Broadbent, who has been tapped by the County Commission to oversee construction of a monorail system for the Strip.

During his 10 years at McCarran International Airport, Broadbent has become an old hand at building similar, albeit smaller, projects and dealing with the headaches that go along with them.

"To say that I know wouldn't be true, but I know who to hire who knows," Broadbent said. "The key is to hire people with the necessary know-how to do a good job, then hire the people to do the oversight to make sure they do a good job."

Those experiences may help to shape how he handles problems that arise on a Strip monorail to be financed by hotel-casino properties led by the Hilton/Bally group and MGM Grand, which already have a light monorail system connecting their properties.

They also foreshadow what types of problems could arise building a six- to eight-mile system that could cost as much as $500 million, and what expertise Broadbent brings to the project.

"You know who the main players are, the people who build fixed-rail systems," Broadbent said. "It's just knowing who the players are that is probably the most help."

Ten years ago, Broadbent had to shut down the C gate tram system until structural flaws found in the concrete support column could be repaired.

Most recently, up to 160 feet of the concrete guideway for a $79 million people mover from the main terminal to the D satellite terminal had to be rebuilt because it was manufactured improperly.

"That's true with any major construction project," Broadbent said. "We've rejected pieces or parts that didn't meet standards necessary to make it safe. It doesn't happen routinely, but it happens. The key is you find it and correct before it's too far along."

Airport officials said A.G. Curd, a subcontractor for Max Riggs Construction Co., poured some pre-cast sections that didn't fit properly because they didn't follow the design specifications.

"There were several problems with these two sections," airport spokeswoman Nora Cooper said. "The bearings didn't fit, the technical pins didn't fit, the valley drains for the water were not there, and there was no camber. It sagged when they were delivered."

Bechtel Corp., the airport's construction administrator, sent a noncompliance report to Max Riggs, which decided the best way to fix the sections was a total replacement and on-site pour, Cooper said.

"That's why you have a company like Bechtel to project manage for us, to make sure what happened in 1986 doesn't happen now," Cooper said.

The C gate tramway had to be shut down during the Comdex convention in 1986 to reinforce the support columns, and passengers were shuttled back and forth by bus. Broadbent became aviation director after the tramway had been built.

The latest correction won't cost the airport any additional money because it was Riggs' subcontractor who didn't follow the plans, Cooper said, which means Riggs is not entitled to a change order to recover the cost.

"There was no design error, the work was just not done to specs," Cooper said.

A.G. Curd maintains the sections were fine and is suing Riggs for nonpayment, a company official said.

The fixed guideway is supposed to be finished by spring 1998, Cooper said, in conjunction with the opening of the 28-gate satellite D terminal. The rail will leave the main terminal on level two between the old parking garage and the terminal building, stay on an elevated rail past the FAA tower, then descend under Paradise Road and come out at ground level at the D gate, Cooper said.

Said Cooper: "The work has been redone, and everything is OK."